The companies frantically building and leasing data centers are well aware that they’re straining grids, driving emissions, and guzzling water. The electricity demand of AI data centers in particular could increase as much as 165 percent by 2030. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told manosphere podcaster Theo Von that he considers a massive expansion of data centers inevitable. “I do guess a lot of the world gets covered in data centers over time,” he said. There are at least 5,400 data centers in the United States, ranging from micro-size to thousand-server “hyperscalers,” and the number is growing fast.